Voices from the Past
by Shadow-Phoenix-Rider
Summary: A collection of drabbles and short story bits relating to my Star Wars: the Old Republic characters. Most will be NPCs, but there'll be some featuring the main characters too. Rating is T for now, might raise it as the content changes. 4: An Imperial naval officer awaits the birth of his child...
1. Kestrann

His daughter shifted slightly in her sleep, mumbling something that no-one could understand but her. Kestrann sighed, and looked out of the window towards the stunted spires of Courscant's buildings, recently scarred by the Empire's attack. It had been nothing more than a miracle that he, his family and their home was untouched by the attack. The Force had smiled upon him, and he thanked it. It had been very kind, he admitted, looking at his youngest daughter, slumbering in her medical cot, thick bandages wrapped around her head.

The holocall was burned into his memory. A Coruscant Security officer had called his home, and he had gravely informed the trooper that his youngest daughter had been rushed into hospital after a fall from some high stacked cargo in a warehouse. They had been trying to arrest her for trespassing, but she had been keeping out of their way on the cargo, and only when a jump went wrong had she been brought down to their level. On her head. It turned out her sister had snuck out with her in concern for her safety, and so had gone with her to the hospital, though she was distressed, despite her Jedi training.

The call had also distressed his wife, and she almost broke down, until Kestrann calmed her down and took her to the hospital. When they got there, his daughter was in the midst of emergency surgery. The terms were haunting, even now. Swelling brain. Possible loss of personality. Amnesia. Might not survive the night.

He rubbed his face. He'd tried not to worry, but he couldn't help it. Zavvi, his beloved youngster, was in a dire situation, and there was nothing, nothing at all that he could do. This wasn't like any time when she scuffed her knees or got a splinter. It was in her head, and he wasn't a brain surgeon. All he could do was sit by her bedside, and hope. And talk to her, hoping that she'd wake up. And when she woke up she was still his little girl; she was just the same girl he'd wished goodnight just four hours ago. She'd know he was, she'd still be happy-go-lucky and she could still shoot and run and talk just like everyone else could.  
A part of him knew that was wishful thinking, that something must have changed, but Kestrann dared to hope. She hadn't died, at least. She wasn't going to be paralysed. The comforting regular beeps of the heart monitor told him her heart was still functioning. Surely she could still be the daughter he knew who loved noodles and always wanted to explore just a little further...

The older Twi'lek frowned. This was what had got her into trouble in the first place. Her need to explore, go places she shouldn't, if only for the reason she could, and that it was an adventure. It had gotten her into trouble before, but never this bad, never had she ever got into a position where her life, her very mind hung in the balance. He pinched his nose. He knew why, though, and had somewhat seen this coming.

His wife Azi'lee had become protective of the only child they had around the house (Xuleena didn't count, she was with the Jedi and safe), and had become more and more restrictive in Zavvi's movements. He understood she was worried about her; the incident three years ago had done a number on them, especially his wife, which he couldn't blame her. The Force had been cruel that day, far too cruel. However, he knew Zavvi was entering puberty, and he could already see hints of the woman she would become, and not only did that make her rebellious even to him, caging her was just making the younger sibling frustrated and agitated. Kestrann had done all he could to try and release his wife's increasingly iron grip on their daughter's life, but it had not been enough. It lead to arguments in the morning and Zavvi sneaking out at night. Which often led to more arguments when Azi'lee caught her coming home.

And now this had happened. Though his wife was shocked and trying to get over it in the presence of their eldest daughter, Kestrann could see the ramifications already. If Zavvi wasn't already restricted, she'd become almost imprisoned in her own home if Azi'lee had her way with her almost obsessive need to protect her. No, he couldn't let his wife destroy his youngest daughter's life like that. Pleading with his wife to release Zavvi's shackles wasn't going to cut it. He'd have to take extreme measures.

He sighed. He'd hoped that Zavvi would leave home as soon as she came of age to make her own way in the world. They'd send her off with credits and advice and good will and wave her goodbye as she set off for pastures new, and they'd get used to the empty house once more. Maybe even get an akk hound to fill the void. But he didn't have that luxury. It would hurt Azi'lee terribly, and Kestrann knew it wouldn't be something he could do easily, but he loved his youngest daughter with all that he was and the last thing he wanted was to let her mother crush her hopes and dreams to explore the galaxy under the guise of keeping her safe. If he had to say goodbye to her with a heavy heart and full eyes, so be it.

Kestrann got up, surveying his daughter's features longingly. She looked beautiful, even in her troubled sleep, and the tattoos she'd acquired looked perfect for her. The curves and patterns recalled a crazy lifestyle, probably smuggling or jumping blockades and the like. He smiled ruefully as the Jedi he knew well told him of the vision he'd seen when he'd first met Zavvi, on a stowaway attempt that thankfully failed. The clothes of a smuggler, but a darkness in her head like a void. His knuckles tightened slightly as he realized what that meant, his stomach dropping. The shapes of canines, as dark as the void in her head opened their jaws, threatening to devour her whole. Then, he remembered the Jedi's eyes widening as he told the tale, a bright light, a creature he could not tell burst from the ground, blinding the Jedi, and when the light died down the void in her head was gone, replaced by the letter 'cresh', and the canines were gone, yet the creature stood behind her, taller but still too bright to be described, yet the Jedi theorised it was a herbivore of some sort, and he swore that it was scarred, though he wasn't sure how he knew that, being unable to see the beast clearly.

The Jedi, Delmar, was a good friend to Kestrann and was now his eldest daughter's master, and the only reason she could visit her parents. He had visions whenever he met someone for the first time, and the longer and more detailed they were, the higher the chance they would come true, but as he'd told Kestrann once, he never knew if people could affect the outcome or not. All he could do was tell people what he had seen, and possibly what it meant.  
All Delmar could glean for Zavvi was she would become a smuggler, that there was something wrong with her head, and that she would almost be destroyed, but someone, or something would save her and cure her, which he supposed was what 'cresh' stood for. But as for why she was being attacked by canines, why the beast burst from the ground or anything more about the beast itself he could tell. Delmar had shrugged and said sadly; "I suppose we'll have to see, old friend."

Well, he certainly understood what the void in her head meant now. Brain damage. He only hoped it wasn't too bad. He wondered if the beast was a medic who could save her mind. But that didn't explain the canines...He shook his head. No, he couldn't be worrying about Force visions whilst his daughter lay ill in a medical cot. Not when he needed to make preparations for her future life.

"Goodnight, titch." He murmured softly, leaning over to press a kiss to his daughter's head, clear of the bandages. "Please come back to me safely. I will always love you, no matter what." He said softly, stroking her cheek. His heart buoyed up when he noticed her lips shift with a twitch of a smile, before he left the ward to a side room.  
There he took out his holocomm and dialled in a number, hoping that the receiver wasn't going to be angry from her getting her up so early.

After a couple of minutes the call was answered, and the hologram flickered to life to reveal a sleepy female Cathar looking a little bit unamused.  
"I do like you, Kestrann." She began, yawning wide to show off her pointed teeth. "But I do object to being gotten out of bed so early in the morning. What's going on?" The Twi'lek sighed.  
"Elizabeth, I need your help. You're gonna retire soon, aren't you?" The Cathar perked up, frowning.  
"I am, yeah. Kestrann, what's wrong?"  
"Liz, I'm sorry to ask this of you, but I need you to be a smuggler for a little while longer. My youngest, Zavvi...She's had an accident, I'm in the hospital with her now..." He ran a hand over a lekku. "I'm worried Azi is going to go overboard and barricade her in the house. You know how Zavvi is, always going off and getting into trouble, and I'm..." He sighed. "I'm scared, Liz. I'm so scared this is gonna do something to her. Something worse that's already happened to her."  
"What exactly happened in this accident?" Elizabeth asked.  
"Long story short, she fell on her head from a height. Brain swelled up, they had to operate and take part of her skull off to let it, she's probably brain damaged and though everything looks alright now, I'm worried for her." Kestrann explained, Elizabeth's eyes widening.  
"Stars, no wonder. You have all my sympathies Kes. I hope she gets better and she's alright, you know. She's a lovely tyke..." Then the Cathar's look changed from saddened to determined. "What do you want me to do for her, Kes? I can't get medicine but I'll try-"  
"No, I don't need medicine for her, I just..." He swallowed hard. "Liz, could you take Zavvi on as your apprentice? Teach her how to be a smuggler?"  
"Are you serious?! Kes are you sure? She might not ever come back from it! She could die in my care, Kes, I-"  
"I know, Liz, but I want her to be happy, and the only way I can do that is to get her out of Azi's reach so she can do what she wants; to explore and have adventures like she always wanted to. I trust you, Liz." Kestrann said. "You can look after her, I know you can. Please, if you're not doing this for me, do it for her. I don't want Azi to trap her in our house forever..."

Elizabeth sighed, rubbing her arms.  
"...You don't know what she's gonna be like once she wakes up, Kes. She might be totally different." She said softly. Kestrann sighed, and he had to wipe away a tear forming in his eye.  
"I know, Liz. I'll update you once I know more. But I can hope she's alright. And if she is, I want her to be happy and follow her dream. That's the least I can do for her." The Cathar sighed, shaking her head.  
"Okay, Kes. You have yourself a deal. But don't...hold out too much help, alright?"  
"I know. Thank you, Liz. And I'm sorry for waking you up early. Goodnight." She nodded, and the hologram disappeared. Kestrann sighed sadly, and made his way back to his daughter's bedside. She was still asleep, and had only moved a little.

_Please be alright, titch._ He thought to himself, and as he sat down, the trooper prepared himself to a vigil at her bedside, waiting for the moment of truth, for when his daughter woke up...


	2. Elizabeth

"Look, I told you not to stick your hand in there before the circuit was switched off." Elizabeth tutted, washing Zavvi's hand in kolto gel. She glanced at her 'apprentice', sympathizing with the electrical burns on the teenager's hand whilst gauging her reaction.

She didn't answer the Cathar, staring sullenly at the floor. She couldn't tell if it was typical teenage moodswings, if it was her natural state or if had been a result of her injury. Elizabeth hadn't really had the time to stop by Kestrann's home to see the newest addition to their family, though she had seen Zavvi when she was merely a baby, kicking and gurgling happily in her proud father's arms. She could understand why Kestrann had been so happy with her; his first child had been incredibly Force-sensitive and the Jedi had been chomping at the bit to take the youngster under their wings. As a result, the trooper barely got to see her, so there was a distance between them, so he was overjoyed when he could make up this lost time with the new baby.

And it showed, the way he doted on her. She certainly didn't lack her father's love and attention. Her mother, however, was another thing. Azi'lee had always been a bit stand-offish to the Cathar because she had dated Kestrann in the past, before he helped her accept that she was in fact attracted to the opposite sex and steered her towards like minded people, but after an event three years ago, she'd got even worse, hoarding her family close to her, especially Zavvi, as she hadn't the Jedi Order or the wider galaxy to go back to. Kestrann hadn't told her what exactly had happened, but whatever it was, it had affected Azi'lee deeply.

So Elizabeth sort of understood why Kestrann had called her that morning to hand his youngest off over to her in a desperate bid to free her from Azi'lee's grip, but even so, the Cathar had her doubts. A wanderer or not, she didn't know if Zavvi was right person for a smuggler; most, like Elizabeth herself, ended up in the profession through accident rather than choice, so she couldn't really believe that the Twi'lek would ever be a spacer, let alone a good one.  
But she owed Kestrann for being her friend and helping her realize her proper sexuality without malice or anger, and so she would do the best she could to help his daughter. It was the least she could do.

"The pain gone yet?" She asked the young Twi'lek, running a hand over her orange and white fur and brushing the strands of dark brown hair over her pointed ears. Elizabeth wasn't the picture of typical beauty, as she was overweight and lacked much of a bust, but she'd gotten through smuggling fairly well, as no-one argued when her claws were unsheathed. Zavvi, on the other hand, would be able to use her feminine wiles as soon as her body filled out. Elizabeth couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy for the younger woman, yet a respect for her too.  
"Still hurts." Zavvi admitted sadly, glancing at the angry wounds, though the redness was fading as the kolto got to work.  
"Do you want some more kolto? I only gave you a little bit..." Elizabeth spoke, going for a vial.  
"No, I'll be fine." The Twi'lek shook her head, waving away her mentor's help. "My father didn't raise me to be a wuss."  
"There is a difference between being a coward and being in pain." The Cathar replied. "No-one deserves to be in constant agony, and there is no shame asking for relief. Do you think people would think less of a birthing mother if she asked for relief when she's giving birth?"  
"I know, but there's a difference between that and a little burn like this." Zavvi replied. "I feel like a coward if I ask for more kolto for something like this."  
"Because your father takes far worse in his job?" Elizabeth suggested. There was a pause, before her apprentice nodded. "I thought so. You must be missing him, being so far away and all."

Zavvi nodded again, a little more reluctantly this time. Elizabeth shifted to sit next to the young woman on the medical cot, wrapping an arm over her shoulders and being careful to avoid her lekku. Kestrann had told her that the brain injury had managed to make Zavvi's lekku more sensitive than normal, and that if a headtail was treated roughly it would be if the Cathar stubbed her toe with her claws extended, and the claw was broken off. So pretty serious pain, and Elizabeth was sure to be careful around her. Where the surgeons had cut open the Twi'lek's head to access her swelling brain was now covered by a Twi'lek headband, which Zavvi refused to take off, even for her mentor. Elizabeth could understand her reluctance to acknowledge what had happened to her; she'd woken up with amnesia of the event that landed her in hospital, and to be told that her brain had been damaged through the accident...She couldn't have imagined what had gone through Zavvi's mind. What had gone through her parents' minds.

They'd done tests on her, much to Zavvi's annoyance, and had made discovery to the effect that part of the frontal lobe on the Twi'lek's brain had pressed against the skull for a little too while and the resulting damage had caused a shift in personality. It was only when she got home that they realized how her personality had shifted; she was less fun-loving, more serious, and her arguments with her mother started to get very close to coming to blows. Apparently it had affected how Zavvi controlled her anger; it was now possible that if she was pushed too far she could do harm. The medics prescribed anti-psychotic drugs to tame any rages that would occur, but the side-effects meant Zavvi refused to take them. Indeed, they were sitting in the medical cabinet right now, just in case, but Elizabeth hadn't forced her to take them. Better to help the Twi'lek in learning to control her anger than have her on pills for the rest of her life. It was a fate she'd seen her mother taken by, and so she totally understood Zavvi's dislike of them.

"Hey, it's alright. Your father will always love you, and I'll teach you to be a smuggler that will make him proud." The Cathar assured her. Zavvi looked up at her sadly. "Come on, let's go and get some lunch. I can rustle up a curry, if that's what you want. Maybe you can go and see if you can do something with the _Phoenix_'s computers." She smiled. "Besides, I think you earned some time off, don't you think? How about after lunch I teach you to play sabacc?"  
Zavvi shifted slightly, considering it.  
"Yeah...I'd like that." She said, looking up at her mentor and smiling.

Elizabeth smiled back. She had a good feeling about Zavvi...


	3. Delmar

**Author's notes: **I wanted to try something different for this piece. I don't usually write first-person stuff, but little bit of change is good. Sometimes. So this from the perspective of a Jedi consular called Delmar. He's not one of my characters ingame; he's too old for this adventuring lark. He, like Kestrann and Elizabeth, are more NPCs created to flesh out stories than actually as playable characters.

* * *

Being a Jedi has never been easy. You don't become one just for the respect and the lightsaber. There are things a Jedi is expected to do that...Look, don't believe the stories that Jedi are the wholly good guys. We have to do some awful things sometimes.

One of those awful things we do is take Force-sensitive infants into the Order. These parents may never see these children again, and these aren't like kids at school age; these are infants. Little kids more interested in playtime than becoming a Jedi. I couldn't imagine how a parent feels when I tell them about taking their child away to train. Some are honoured, others are angry. Almost all of them cry. I hate it. I don't want to do this. I don't want to separate families, like mine was. Most of the time, we respectfully bow out when the parents tell us where to stick our offer, though I've heard rumours that some Jedi steal the children away later. I wish I could believe that they're just malicious stories, but I have my suspicions that it's grounded in more truth than I'd like to admit.

But I didn't really have a choice this one time.

Her name was Xuleena, and she was lovely. Her father Kestrann is a very good friend of mine; he was brought to the Order when he was a couple of years old, and we become friends through his training. However, Kestrann's ability with the Force wasn't strong enough to allow him to move up to become a Padawan, and the Order eventually let him go, but we stayed in touch, and he joined the Republic army and met a nice Twi'lek by the name of Azi'lee, and eventually had a child with her, this little infant I'd come to see.

I think I better mention now is I'm not an entirely normal Jedi. I have this ability to have a vision of anyone I meet; but only on the first time. They show the person's...potential future. Now, the Force is a fickle mistress, and she won't give me a simple vision like 'you will be shot by an Imperial at this time and this date', no, she'll give me this scene and I have to interpret it. And the thing is, I can't tell you if this is a certain future or not; I don't know if it can be avoided or not! But they are usually right, so I've learnt to trust what I see. Most of the time, but sometimes she changes things around, to keep me on my toes. The Force isn't really a she, but I call it that, because, well, it feels like a she, what with all the emotions and unpredictability.

Why am I telling you this now? Well, see, I had a vision of Kestrann when I met him. I saw him walking along this flat expanse of ground. Above him was this beautiful big sun, and I saw a little child running by his side which he seemed to ignore, before the scene shifted and it was night time, the sky filled with stars. And there was a different child then, and she pulled at his trouser leg, and this time he looked down and grinned, picking her up and showing her the stars. Then I noticed the stars were aligned into the shape of the symbol of the Republic army, that arrow thingy in a circle. And then I saw the stars change and one was shining really, really brightly, and for some reason, I felt the name 'Mantell' meant something.

So, what did that mean? Basically that Kestrann would have two youngsters, both girls, he'd not be close to one, but really close to the other. There would be a strong connection to the Republic army. I'd no idea what the sun meant, but I knew the stars meant something. I was really confused about that 'Mantell' thingy. It's one of those things that I knew about a vision, but I couldn't tell you why I knew it or how. The only Mantell I knew was of Ord Mantell, the Core world close to the Hydian Way. I couldn't figure out its importance for a long time.

Anyway, I went to visit Kestrann to see how he was doing and to see Xuleena. I kept meaning to go see her earlier but being a Jedi means we don't get as much time-off as you think. When I did manage to go see her, I remember feeling this...presence when I crossed the threshold of the house. I at first thought there was a Jedi in the residence, testing the child, but when I asked Kestrann, he frowned at me and said I was the only Jedi in the house. I bet you can see the forest of red flags popping up already. Before you ask; Kestrann has a presence in the Force, but he's barely anything, like a dim, glowing lightbulb. This presence was like...like a beacon, almost.

So, we went to see the little infant. She must have been only three months old. She has the dark blue skin her dad has and the green eyes of her mother. Azi'lee was happy to see me; she's one of the people who practically worship the Order. That makes me uncomfortable; we're all mortal, not worthy to be deities. And we just channel the Force, so it's not even ours either. It just weirds me out. I think if I wasn't a Jedi and she knew where I came from, she'd treat me just like dirt. I think, anyway; I might be reading her wrong, because Kestrann loves her, so he must see something good in her.

Anyway, I was going to look at the youngster and coo at her, because she was an adorable little tyke, and Azi gave her to me to hold. It's about then that the vision happens. Most of the time, I zone out, looking like I've had a little too much to drink (don't believe the rumour than Jedi can hold their drink because some of us, like me, can't) and I've found a wall really interesting, but this time it was like someone threw a plasteel brick at my head, just WHAM! Suddenly vision!

I was in a quaint little field somewhere, behind two houses. They both had yards, and each had a kath hound in it. One was running free, the other was chained to a post. Their owners came out the backdoor, and the free one bounded up to its owner, licking his face and wagging its tail. The one that was chained up looked at its owner, but it wasn't interested. Before you ask, that owner wasn't abusive or anything; the hound was healthy and he gave the hound the same amount of petting the other guy did. They were both loved, basically.

Then the scene changed and I was at the front of the houses (this is usual for the visions, for it to chop and change). I noticed there was two packs of wild kath hounds, barking and making whining noises, like they were waiting for something. The guy with the free kath hound let it go and it ran with the pack, and they all played together before the hound came back with a wagging tail, and I swear it was bigger and had more muscle than when it ran off.  
The other guy though, he had his hound on a leash, and he wouldn't let the hound anywhere the pack. Suddenly the hound turned on the man, and tore a chunk out of his arm, causing the guy to drop the leash in shock and pain, and the hound ran off with the pack and they fled into the distance, never to return. Remember I said the guy wasn't abusing the hound or anything; he loved the hound just like the other guy.

When I came out of the vision, the youngster smiled up at me, and I felt this wave of Force energy through me, making my hair stand on end and causing my robes to rustle. I knew then that Xuleena was full to the brim of Force energy; that she was more powerful than any youngster I'd even known or heard about. I felt Kestrann just looking at me, as if he knew something was up. I think...I think he knew this was going to happen.  
I was going to give her the little Force sensitive objects to do the test properly, but she was so strong I figured that any Jedi worth their salt could tell me the infant was Force sensitive. And very Force sensitive to boot.

As you can imagine, I was now stuck in a swamp. This is a little infant, who's only just began to live her life. Who am I to take her away from her family? She was also my friend's child; his only child. The pain he was going to go through when I took her away was nothing I will ever know or wish to know. I didn't want to hurt him.  
And yet, I had this fear. This child was powerful. At three months, she can create a Force wave that could easily push something like an empty cup over. She was only going to get more powerful as she grew older, and without training, she wouldn't be able to control the power she had. She would be a danger to others, even to herself. And though it sounded ridiculous at time, on Coruscant before the Empire bombed the place, I feared that someone would kidnap her, take her away and hand her over to the Sith, where they'd either subjugate her or, even worse, kill her outright as a threat to them.

I was stuck. I needed to protect this powerful child, but I couldn't take the child away from her parents, whom I know well. Azi might be ecstatic, but Kes...Even if he does get another child in the future, it wasn't fair for me to take his firstborn. Xuleena gurgled in my arms and for once I envied her. She only needed to worry about food, sleep, whether her diaper needs to be changed. I wish life was more simple.

"Kes..." I begun, and he bowed his head.  
"I knew it." He said quietly.  
"Why?" I asked.  
"She...She pushed one of her toys across the floor a couple of days ago...Without touching it." He replied, and I felt my heart sink. He knew this was going to happen, and here's me going to tell him something he already knows and then...then I'm going to have to take his child. For her safety, for theirs, I told myself. Trying to delude myself so I didn't want to start doubting the Order, to start doubting the purpose of my life. For the second time.  
I sighed.  
"Kes, she's the most powerful child I've ever known." I said. Kestrann walked away from me, to the window. His shoulders hunched up.  
"Del, she's my only child." He said. Trust Kes not to go down without a fight. He knows of his vision, but I don't bring it up. It's not fair to say 'oh, don't worry about this child, you'll have another one later'. What, so the first child didn't deserve the same love and affection as the second one will get? Just because he or she had the misfortune to be born first?  
"I know." I said.  
"I will never see her again, Delmar! You'll take her away to the Order and then when's the next time I'll see her? When she's forgotten she has parents? When I'm dead?" The youngster got scared of her father's rising anger, and I quickly gave her back to Azi, who retreated to feed her elsewhere. We didn't want to upset the baby.  
"Kes, if I don't take her, she'll become a danger to you and everyone around you." I said. "She can't control what she's doing half the time, I bet. As she gets older, her grip on the Force will get stronger. One uncontrollable burst and she might hurt someone! It might be you, Azi, someone innocent...At least in the Order she'll be able to control it so you don't have to worry about chairs or bookshelves suddenly becoming death traps." The look he had on his face wasn't one that showed me that I'd convinced him. "I hate to say it, Kes, but it'll paint a big fat juicy target on her too." My voice was soft then. "What if she's alone one day and some unscrupulous bastard sees she's Force sensitive but not a Jedi? He'll snap her up as quick as anything and then who knows where she'll end up. Best case is she's a slave of some wealthy crime lord. Worst case? She'll be taken by the Sith and turned into one or the Sith'll kill her because they perceive her as a threat." I shrugged. "I'm sorry Kes, but there's few options for you."

He turned to me, and I felt the smouldering anger and despair and self guilt and general malcontent bleeding out of him and into the Force, like a leaking toxin barrel in a lake. I felt sick and part of me wanted to hide under a rock pretend like it wasn't happening.  
"Is that what your vision of her showed you?" He asked, venomously. Kestrann isn't vindictive at all, so this caught me off guard, but it is his first child we're talking about here. He's a trooper too, so that time with her was snatched as it was, and then I came in there and asked him to wipe any chance of him forging a bond with her off the map. Yeah, I think I'd be pretty pissed too.  
But he brings up the vision, of which I'd completely ignored because it had been overshadowed by the 'powerful infant very much in trouble if I don't take her to the Order, feelings and morals be damned' thought that'd be screaming around my head. I think back to it, the free kath hound allowed to run with its pack and growing bigger and stronger and in love with its owner compared to the chained hound which was equally loved but attacked its owner and escaped.

The realization hits me like that plasteel brick, as my mother's words return to me. She had some water in her hand, and she told me love is like water. If you clench your fist, it will dart away. She did, and the water squeezed from between her fingers. But if you keep your hand open, it will stay happily in your palm, she said, showing me the pool of water resting in the palm of her hand.  
It was the same with the hounds. The owner kept such a tight hand on what the hound was doing that it built up resentment which eventually culminated in the hound attacking and fleeing. The other owner had an open hand, allowed the dog to run with its family a while, and it came back. The owner loved it enough to let it be free.  
I realized the Force wasn't hinting things, like it did with most visions. This time it was telling me something. It was showing me what would happen, and I'd've been a fool to ignore it. I don't claim to know what the Force is up to, but for some reason it had a destiny for this infant and it was using a vision to tell me what to do.

"Kes, I think the Force might help you in that regard." He frowned at me, and I told him the vision in its entirety, plus what I thought it meant. "I think might be able to secure some sort of thing that lets her go home every now and again. A vision as forthright as that would be stupid to ignore, and I don't think they would if they had sense." I said to him. "It basically said if the Order hangs onto her, she'll hit back and run off. Considering what an asset she's likely to be, the Order's hardly going to put its foot in its mouth." I hoped.  
Kestrann was still frowning at that point, but this time just in thought.  
"How are you sure that they'll let her out, though? All Jedi have been stuck to being trained in the Temple permanently. I haven't heard of deviations to that rule." He said.  
"I'll make sure they will, because I'm going to take her there myself and be damned if I won't become her caretaker and maybe even her master." I said. I hadn't planned to say that, I just did. But as soon as I said it, I was sure of myself and I was gonna go through with it. I was not going to let Kestrann down, and be damned what the Order said, the vision said this and I was sure it was important because the Force is never forthright with you. It uses symbolism all the time, which could be anything, but this time its symbolism was plain and simple and the fact it was showing two potential futures, not one, makes it even more important. Like I said, the Force is fickle; sometimes she'll give some meaningless nonsense, sometimes she'll write it out in Basic.

Kestrann looked at me, then nodded.  
"Okay, Del. You may take my child." He said, and I bowed humbly. I didn't feel like I'd deserved this, but I wasn't about to say that, not when I thought he was just going to chuck me out of his house. Or at least, it felt that way, with all the tension.  
"Tomorrow, Kes." I told him. "Have your time with her today. I need to make arrangements anyhow and tell the Council of the vision and such." I explained. "I'm sorry to bring such news to your door." He sighed, and shrugged tiredly.  
"I sort of expected it, old friend." He said, gazing out into the background of Coruscant's high rises. "I'd rather it be you taking my daughter though, than some Jedi who doesn't know us."  
"Yes." I said, though I still felt awful for all this mess. "I will do everything in my power to make sure she can still come home though." I puffed myself up. "And if they won't let me, I'll just have to find another way. But I swear, you'll see her again, Kes. You might not be able to watch her grow up the way you imagined, but she will know you as her father, and I'm sure she'll love you."

He nodded wearily, and after some soft farewells, I left his house, feeling like I'd just cast a plague upon his household. Jedi aren't supposed to let their emotions get the better of them, but I must admit I wallowed in self-guilt for quite a while. Being a Jedi has never easy, but that was the day I wished I could run into my mother's arms and cry myself hoarse.

Several years later, though, I began acquainted with Kestrann's second daughter. I suppose you know her as Captain Zavvi. There is an interesting story of how we met, actually, but that's a tale for another time, I think.


	4. John

There was a thunderstorm over Dromund Kaas. On other planets, this would have been unusual, but on the capital of the Empire, it was a regular enough occurrence that its citizens paid it little heed even as lightning bolts struck the lightning spires fiercely, hissing and crackling. Seeing their power, it was little wonder the Sith bent it to their will.

An Imperial watched the rain lash down over the city, the lightning flashing and the thunder roaring like the enraged jungle beasts, trying to distract himself from his mind, humming and whirring with excitement and anticipation. First because of the storm; he'd always liked watching them as a child, awed by their power and the fact even Sith were mindful not to stand exposed in the middle of such things, as they weren't lightning-proof on the inside.

Secondly, was because he was going to be a father.

John Barrant has always acknowledged that one day he'd settle down with a lovely wife after (or during) a career in the Imperial navy and they'd have some children and he'd be a proud father and then hopefully a grandfather and that would be just fine for him. However, fate (or the Force, perhaps) had a sense of humour, and decided to twist his life about a bit. He hadn't fallen in love with an ordinary human woman. He'd fallen in love with a Sith Pureblood with a pedigree, hadn't he?

He smiled as a bolt of electric blue shot across the sky, lighting up the city. Systa was her name. He remembered the day he saw her on his ship like it was yesterday; she was going to help them on a mission to some planet with importance to the Sith or something John couldn't quite recall. He wasn't how he expected a Sith to be; she was approachable, nice to talk to, funny, and beautiful. He loved her orange eyes and had questioned why her skin and hair colours matched, to which she had laughed and he'd felt a little spark in his heart which told him he was done for.

It wasn't going to go well from the outset. He was an Imperial navy officer, she was a Sith Pureblood with considerable lineage. He was way out of her liege already, and that was before he factored in the fact she was a Sith and would probably decapitate him at the slightest provocation. This wasn't going to be the calm family life he'd been planning; marital arguments when your partner is a Sith are not ones you come out with all your limbs attached, and that was only in the jokes the soldiers told in the canteen. John hadn't told anybody about his crush on Systa, because he could probably recite the response; 'what are you doing, you silly shit? You know it'll never work!'

So he'd resigned himself to the fact it wasn't going to happen and he'd have to get over her...But Systa pursued him. Him, a lowly officer! Of course, John had fallen over himself to accept her affections, and their romance had blossomed. Her family, of course, had issues with this pairing. Systa came from the Torran family, and they had kept their bloodline painstakingly pure by only wedding and breeding with other Sith Purebloods, with surprisingly little incest. So the fact the latest generation was courting a human and a non-Force sensitive of all things was a point of utter contention, and there was arguments and fights which Jon wisely kept his distance from, not wanting a Sith assassin to come after him.

Eventually Systa broke ties with her parents and told John she would take his surname as his family had been kinder to her than hers. His family had the view of the rest of the Empire did; bemused, and slightly nervous, but didn't stand in the way of it all; they'd be foolish to, in honesty. And soon after, they were married, John figuring he was the happiest man alive in that moment. Well, until now, of course.

He looked back towards the ward his wife was in, shifting uncertainly as his eyes scanned the closed curtains and shut door for the hundredth time. Systa's family had surprised him by paying for the best maternity hospital there was, which had soundproofed walls and other privacy additions for birthing Sith. John found himself both bemused and slightly sickened about it all; part of the privacy was to not let anyone think bad of a mother because she was howling in pain during her labour, and the other was because rarely, some Sith took it upon themselves to take power by killing the mother in such a vulnerable time. It made John nauseous just thinking about it, and though he desperately wanted to be by his wife's side during this time, it had been her own wish that he not see her like that, and he'd respected it.

He started to pace, lightning illuminating the wrinkles under his silver eyes from the sleepless night he'd had when his offspring decided that midnight was when it was going to come out. Systa handled it impressively, though he figured she was using her Force powers to numb the pain. Whether she was doing it now he couldn't know, though he was relieved not have heard her Force Scream. Although Systa was a fairly calm and collected Sith, she was a monster when roused, and John had found himself enjoying the fact he never really had to defend his honour with his wife around.

He ran his fingers through his jet black hair, checking the chrono. It was about two in the morning; surely the baby had been born by now? The storm was still raging, puddles now rivers down the main thoroughfares. Had something gone wrong? He dug his fingers into his palms. _Don't think like that!_ _She's a Sith, she'll be fine. The little one's been healthy all through the pregnancy, it's just taking some time. _A smile tugged at his lips. _Bet the youngster will be a handful, taking this long and waking us up in the middle of the night._

Just as he was musing this, a slightly built nurse opened the door, causing John to whirl around eagerly. She was trying to look as neutral as possible, but the officer could see the smile playing on the corners of her lips.  
"Mr. Barrant, your wife is ready to see you." She said, her accent a soft country lilt.  
"What about the baby?" He asked, trying to stop himself dashing into the room.  
"The baby is fine, hale and hearty." The nurse replied, stepping aside to let him pass into the ward.

John wasn't exactly sure what he'd find when he stepped past the curtain and laid eyes on his wife and newly born child, but the scene that greeted him took his breath away.  
Systa, looking tired but serenely pleased with herself, sitting up in the bed with a small bundle in her arms, swaddled in blankets. John felt his heart turn over in his chest at the sight, and he hurried to her side.

"Hello gorgeous..." He murmured to her lovingly as he kissed her. "You alright?"  
"I'm not rushing back to do it again, if that's what you're saying." Systa replied, smiling at her husband. "But I'm fine now, and so is your daughter."  
_My daughter._ John felt a flash of excitement at those words. He couldn't deny that he had wanted a son, but he was just as happy with a girl. He took the bundle from Systa and was promptly mesmerised by the infant swaddled in the blankets.

She was a Sith Pureblood, like her mother, with bright red skin which was still soft, but soon would harden into the ridges Purebloods were known to possess on their eyebrows, back and chest, whilst her chin would probably sprout tendrils to match the ones on her mother's. She had a head of short black hair, matching his, though he mused that she hopefully wouldn't have his moustache either. John enjoyed flattery, but he didn't know he'd appreciate it that way. And neither would she, really.

A slight chuckle from Systa reminded him that she could sense his emotions; mostly brimming over with love and pride. The sound of her mother made the youngster stir from her nap, her puffy eyes opening slowly to reveal beautiful yellow irises, and she tried to focus on the man holding her.

"Hello you." John cooed, gently stroking her cheek with a finger. The baby reached up and grasped his finger with surprising strength, his heart skipping a beat at seeing his digit clasped in her tiny fist. "For one so small, you seem so strong..." He murmured, smiling down at her.  
"John." Systa spoke, and he looked up to her, feeling anxiety sink in when he noticed her expression. She beckoned to him, and he perched on the side of her bed to let her whisper to him. "She's Force sensitive."

He glanced up, the revelation taking a few moments to sink in. He looked back down at the newborn, still watching him curiously. He wasn't exactly sure what to make of it; he felt supremely honoured that one day she would be a Sith in her own right, which would cause Systa's family at least to back off in respect, but he was worried. Sith training was harsh, from what he'd heard from his wife, and the last thing he wanted was his beloved daughter to be cut down because some other Sith needed to trample over her to get where they needed to go. And yet he also feared that the Sith themselves would twist her into some sort of killer. He knew his wife had got through it intact, but what if his daughter wasn't so lucky? If he raised a good child and saw her later with pale, warped skin and with a thirst for blood, he knew it'd break his heart.

However, John was not a fool. He knew hiding the child would come back to bite them in the end. The least he could do was try and set some morals into her before he had to let her go. At least he could say he tried. And maybe his daughter would appreciate him for it.

He knew his wife sensed his conflict, and she gently leaned against him, letting him feel her warmth. She brushed back a lock of her red hair, waiting for him to speak.  
"I want to bring her up right, darling. I don't want her to be the Sith who backstabs people just to get a fancy title..." He said softly, stroking the baby's clenched fist with his thumb.  
"I know. You won't have to do it alone." Systa replied softly, kissing his cheek. "Despite everything, my family had honour. The least I can do is make sure she has it too."  
John nodded.  
"I want to be proud of her because she is doing right by the Empire, not because she's powerful." He looked at his wife with a slight smile. "I mean, that's what we'd want her to be if she wasn't sensitive, wouldn't it? We'd enroll her in the army, to make sure she's doing her duty. Why can't we do that anyway?"  
"It's not something that comes easily to the Sith." Systa sighed. "But I know what you're saying. And we will, sweetheart. We'll make her a pride of the Empire." She took the baby from her dad when she began to fuss, though she wouldn't be parted from his finger. Shifting aside the hospital gown, she placed the infant to her breast, calming the youngster down. John shifted to sit better, arm stretched over awkwardly.

"Have you thought of a name for her yet?" He asked.  
"Yes, it came into my head when I saw her." Systa nodded. "I want to call her Feyrl."  
John raised an eyebrow, chuckling.  
"Well, that certainly is a Sith name, darling. Why can't we call her something a little more...neutral, like Susan, or something like that?" He replied, his wife tutting.  
"It's not that vicious. Besides, we could shorten it to 'Fey', if we need to."  
"Wait, how do you purpose we spell it then?" John asked, frowning slightly, taking out his datapad. "I thought you meant forn esk resh aurek leth." He typed the letters onto the screen. "How are you spelling it?"  
"Forn esk yirt resh leth." Systa explained, watching as he typed it out. "That's nicer, isn't it?"  
"Yes, I suppose so." John nodded. "Better than I could have come up with." He grinned at her, to which she chuckled, tweaking his moustache.  
"Yes, but you would have named her something like, I don't know, 'Betty'."  
"I don't know what you're talking about, Betty's a great name!" Systa rolled her eyes.  
"I beg to differ. Anyway, are you settled with 'Feyrl'?"  
"Perfectly, darling." He said, kissing his wife lovingly.

Feyrl snuffled softly when her belly was full, and she yawned as her mother wrapped her back up in the soft blankets, before she drifted off to sleep, only now letting go of her father's finger.

* * *

**Author's notes: **I know my Sith Warrior has only really appeared in 'Forced', but she will have her own stories when I stop neglecting her thanks to Zavvi and Corso stealing all my inspiration. But here, have some lore.

Some trivia; I had access to the Weekend beta of SWTOR and Systa was the Sith Warrior I made for the beta. She became Feyrl as Systa was too close to 'sistah', an irritating meme doing the rounds at that time. Also Feyrl sounded and looked better.

Also, assuming Aurebesh is the universal script of Star Wars, I would have thought they wouldn't have learnt the letters they way we do (like 'h' is 'hiatch', etc.), and instead used the words like 'aurek' for 'a', 'besh' for 'b' and so on.


End file.
